Map turtles of the variety known as Ouachita are unique to the Midwest of the United States. The prominent, light-colored patches behind their eyes help these turtles be identified from other Map turtles. The keel that protrudes from the males’ dark green shells is noticeable.
These nocturnal turtles can be spotted basking in river and drainage systems. The omnivorous Ouachita Map turtle mostly consumes aquatic larvae, insects, mollusks, and shrimp. Algae and aquatic plants are occasionally consumed by them as well.
Care as a Pet
Housing
This map turtle lives in rivers with swift currents and a lot of vegetation. They favour deep, wide river stretches with rocky, sandy, or clayey bottoms and lots of places to sun yourself.
The Ouachita map turtle requires an aquarium or pond, much like other map turtles do. While juveniles can survive in as little as 20 gallons of water, as they reach sub-adulthood, they must be transferred to a larger tank. It’s ideal to get a tank that can accommodate an adult and fill it with just enough water to cover the baby turtle at first. A 40 to 50-gallon tank is required for adult males. Due to their size, female fish need tanks that are substantially larger.
Heat
It is simple to keep the enclosure housing the Ouachita map turtle at the ideal temperature. Make sure the air is at a temperature of 79 to 86 degrees. The ideal basking temperature is between 85 and 95 °F. Finally, the water should be between 70 and 75 degrees Fahrenheit.
Feed
The Ouachita map turtle is an omnivore in the wild. However, as with most aquatic turtles, map turtles typically consume more animal protein. Give a pet Ouachita map turtle more foods high in protein and fewer nutrients from plants. Shrimp, krill, and insects like mealworms, crickets, and bloodworms can all be fed to them. You might also feed them meals designed especially for turtles. I’ve included a few diets below: Aquatic turtle foods from Zoo Med, Trade King dried mealworms, Mazuri, and Gourmet Reptisticks by Zoo Med are also available. For a variety of reasons, including their ease of storage and fortification with necessary nutrients that might otherwise require additional feeding, commercial diets are superior to insects and other animal sources of protein. You might provide them with aquatic ecosystem-specific plants including pondweed, duckweed, milfoil, water lilies, water hyacinth, frogbit, and hornwort.
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